To have some parts flowing free again ... with deer grazing on its banks ... ducks and geese raising their young in the backwaters ... eddies and twists and turns for canoeists ... and fishing opportunities such as Lewis and Clark enjoyed ... would be the finest possible tribute to the men of the Expedition, and a priceless gift for our children.

— Stephen Ambrose

In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries you have these great nation states hurling their young men at one another. The victory was really going to rest on who could do the best job of bringing up their kids to become efficient and effective soldiers. That's pretty grandiose, I guess, but I do think that, and thank God it's been the armies of democracy that have emerged from this as the triumphant armies.